This
playthrough is for the original PlayStation 4 version of The
Elder Scrolls Online. There have been multiple updates and
add-ons since.

I've
played lots of RPG style games over the years on the PC. I
beta tested RF Online then went on to purchase the game. I've
also played Guild Wars and World Of Warcraft. I never fully
completed them however and often spent more time fooling
around than actually carrying out a quest. To be honest I
didn't really feel comfortable sitting in front of the PC for
long stretches of time and would much rather sit on the sofa
in front of a large TV than at a computer desk.

Venetica
was the first RPG I played on console which I played through
from beginning to end three times completing every quest it
had to offer. But with it being a single player game all the
focus was upon completing it.

When I
heard that The Elder Scrolls Online was coming out on the PS4
I was delighted and eager to play it, even if it meant paying
a monthly subscription on top of PlayStation Plus. The
reviews of the PC version however were abysmal and YouTube
was full of people complaining about the many glitches and
problems. Sometimes the game would totally crash, sometimes
quests would fail to work, and there were complaints that
some features of the game required payment for the DLC
content which for a subscription based game was beyond the
pale.

I knew
that the problems would likely be ironed out before the
console release but then news was released that the Xbox One
and PS4 versions were delayed by six months. My suspicion was
that the game didn't meet Microsoft's and Sony's quality
control. After six months passed by there was still no news
of the console version and people suspected that it had been
abandoned. After about a year from its original release date
it was suddenly announced that the game was due very soon.
They had dropped the monthly charge too, other than the usual
Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus subscription. There was still
DLC content to pay for but it wasn't a necessity.

I was
still a little weary as to whether to purchase it but
downloaded it anyway as a pre-order meaning I could download
and install it before the midnight launch. There was also a
hefty 15 gig update patch which I'm sure annoyed a lot of
people who weren't expecting it.

First
Impressions.

When first
playing The Elder Scrolls Online there was a little annoyance
when it asked me to enter my email address, which I later had
to confirm by clicking upon a link on my PC. I purchased the
game for the PS4, I have a PS4 user name, why should I need
an email address? What about people who don't have an email
address? I don't understand why gaming companies do this.

I was then
presented with the character creation screen while a melody
of atmospheric music plays in the background. It's a good
idea to spend some time on this as the character's looks can
vastly differ depending on the faction and race you select.
Items such as weapons, armour and clothing are available from
merchants within the game so there isn't much variety within
the initial character creation. You can also select to
display the character within their underwear as to add
tattoos and scars to their body. It's amazing as to the
variety of skin pigmentation, body pimples, moles, etc that
can be selected. Body shape can be altered too changing
muscle mass and body fat, but I'm not sure if this has any
effect on the character's final strength. You also have the
option to selected a character name so you don't have to
stick with your usual PS4 user name. You can also select
multiple characters if you so desire but I didn't notice that
you can't simply continue the game where you left off if you
choose to change character.

I won't
give too much away as to the story as to avoid spoilers but
after the character screen you find yourself in a prison cell
and in the events that follow you are aided by another
character, who explains the controls, just to ease you into
the main game. I'm unsure if this is the same for all
characters however, if you were playing as a different race
for example.

The
graphics aren't as top notch as you'd expect on a PS4. They
pretty much look previous gen. If you run through a field the
grass doesn't move, if you run through snow the footprints
vanish behind you, there's lots of distant popup, and you're
also able to run through other characters. But I don't feel
this is important as it's gameplay that really matters and I
don't like the idea of quality graphics at the expense of
gameplay. Incidentally the gameplay is brilliant! I have yet
to see any of the problems that plagued the PC version.

The game's highly addictive
and I often play for hours at a time not realising how much
time has passed by. I'm constantly having to recharge my PS4
joypad.

Battle-scarred

Dyeing
Outfits.

There are
various locations within the game where you can dye an
existing outfit. There aren't as many dyers than there are
merchants so you'll see need to have a good look around. It
doesn't cost you any gold and the result is purely decorative,
you gain no abilities from dying clothing. The only negative
is that once you've dyed an outfit you can no longer trade it
with another player.

I've gleamed up my outfit
with bright pinks and greens making me stand out more in a
crowd. I usually have to change into armour however for heavy
battles.

My new outfit.

It's
Snowing.

After
getting past the zombie-like bad guys they stopped chasing me,
so rather than entering the building behind like I was
supposed to I decided to play a tune on the flute. It
attracts other players too so they know where to go then I
assist in killing the zombies. There are also some people to
rescue too in that area so have a good look around.

Anyway,
while I was playing the flute, it started snowing. It's the
first time I've seen that happen in this game. It's not very
clear in the picture but there was a lot of heavy snowfall.

Playing the flute while
it snows.

Winged
Twilight.

So far I've
seen this character twice flying around. The first time I saw
her I was totally agasp due to the fact that I had never seen
any other character, bot or otherwise, that even came close
to having that look. There is a monster bat later in the game
but even that doesn't come close to how Winged Twilight looks.

In case
you're wondering she's not a character bot or a real person,
but something in between. She's a pet. She's controlled by a
real person playing the game but not directly, she follows
the player who owns her, watching over them. I've got a pet
crab but don't have it activated because I find it annoying.

A protecting pet.

Quest Bugs.

The game's
not anywhere as near as buggy as the PC version when it first
came out but there can be an occasional glitch. In most cases
it's because someone else picks up a quest item that you need
and you have to wait for the item to respawn. This happened
to me recently by a player who had the word "Volunteer"
next to his name meaning that he wasn't even carrying out the
quest, he just happened to be in the same location. He picked
up an item he didn't yet need causing me to have to wait.

One
annoying quest glitch was when I had to rescue a character
named Sen Dres. I went to the location but he simply wasn't
there. I was wearing a guard disguise so it's possible that
may have been the cause of the problem. The next day I
removed the guard disguise and went to the same location and
Sen Dres was there waiting to be rescued.

Where's he gone?

Error
Message.

This has
been doing this a lot lately. After starting the game and
selecting my character as soon as I begin to play this error
message occurs. Simply pressing the X button makes it vanish
and the game plays as normal but it is a very odd thing on
witness on a PS4. Error messages on PC games aren't a rare
occurrence but on a game console it's very unusual. I wouldn't
have thought error messages existed within console gaming
code and the game would ignore it. It's possible it could be
a server error as it is an online game after all.

UI Error.

Another 15
Gig update.

There's a
new update and my internet connection appears slow today. It
looks as though I'm going to have to miss playing it for
today. I like the idea of bug fixes and they've listed what's
been fixed on the official website so at least people know
what the update is for. It's just something we're going to
have to put up with once in a while.

Update.

Naryu
Virian.

Naryu
Virian is one of the most mysterious characters within the
game. It is later revealed as to who she really is but I won't
mention it here to avoid spoilers.

When you
first meet her she's secretive and the only thing she's
willing to reveal is that you're both on the same side, later
in the game she will tell you who she is but only if you ask.
Sometimes she wears a face mask and sometimes she doesn't so
it's not her face she's trying to hide but something else.

It's one
of the many things I love about this game. It contains so
many plots and sub-plots to the story with so many levels of intrigue.
I'm sure many people love this game but for totally different
reasons.

Mysterious.

Flirting
With Characters.

One thing
that amuses me about this game is when a character makes a
flirting comment, it's especially funny because it's only
female characters that do this and I'm playing as a female
dark elf so they're essentially lesbian flirts. There is no
way to respond to the flirts however so it's only ever one
sided.

I've had a
character saying she wants to kiss me for what I did, then go
coy and say she didn't mean it literally. I've had another
character say she wants to go to a quiet place with me for
some fun. Even one of the main game characters Naryu
Virian said "Like what you see, hero? Of course you do,"
when I was looking at her. Actually I'm really taking a shine
to Naryu Virian, I hope she's in it a lot more.

Naryu likes to
compliment me.

Laueva Areloth likes me
too.

Naryu
Virian's Changing Appearance.

I thought
I embarrassed myself on this playthrough by getting two
characters mixed up so I had to recheck. A lot of the
characters look very much alike and with their old style
names it's difficult to keep track. There must be hundreds of
characters in this game each with an individual name and in
many cases their own voice, although I'm sure some characters
do sound alike.

Naryu
Virian sometimes wears a face mask and sometimes doesn't, but
I've also noticed her hair is totally different too depending
on whether she's masked or not. She is certainly the same
character though.

Naryu with a face mask.

Naryu without.

Vanishing
Quest.

I was
given a quest to Escort Vox To Selfora but while travelling
to meet up with Vox I had to fight guards to prove my worth
to them, rescue a man from a cage and give him a book, rescue
a woman who was lost, collect a potion to put out fires, use
the potion to put out two fires saving two people, and fight
(twice) with the ghost of someone who was also named Vox.

To be
honest I was quite irritated that what I thought was a side
quest of saving a lost woman dragged on and on opening up
ever more quests.

Anyway the
Escort Vox To Selfora quest vanished even before I fought
with the Vox ghost. I wasn't even sure who Vox was having
lost track of the story due to not meeting her. I've no idea
if this was a gaming glitch or it was because it conflicted
with the other quests, but I think I'll stick to one quest at
a time in future.

The spirit
of Saint Veloth then told me he would help me defeat Vox even
though I already defeated her twice while she was a ghost.
Maybe I need to do it again. I don't know what she actually
did or why I had to defeat her.

I've lost track of what
to do.

I've Got
My Own Winged Twilight.

Yay! All
those side quests that dragged on and on have paid off. I've
levelled up and gained lots of skill points and was able to
use them to increase my spells and gain a Winged
Twilight of my own.

She's not a pet that follows
an does nothing, she's created by a spell and I've binded, or
is it bound, her to the O button. Whenever I need help during
a battle I summon her and she fights alongside me. She can
die but so long as I have enough spell energy I can re-summon
her. It's like having another person to assist during battles,
and I find her main advantage is that she distracts the enemy
giving me time to cast other spell. She was essential today
in the battle against Vox.

A Winged Twilight of my
very own.

Remnants
Of Old Quests.

It appears
the Ordinators haven't been informed that I finished that
quest some time ago. In fact if I do pay a visit to the
Sacred Lady she repeats the same information, thanking me for
my help, without initiating a new quest.

In some ways this is realistic as how else
would the Ordinators know unless someone informs them, but
the game doesn't work based upon realism. In other words it's
a glitch.

I already did that.

Telling me the same
thing.

A
Refreshing Shower.

A fountain
in the town square is a good place to cool off while
listening to someone play the lute. After so many quests my
character needed a break. Laying down underwater is
refreshing too and no matter how long you remain you cannot
drown. It's a good way to hide from marauders too.

Ironically
it was a hot day when I took these screenshots so it was a
bit of a tease to cool off within the game whilst still
boiling hot in real life.

That feels good.

Laying beneath the
water.

A
Character Apologising.

I was
playing today and I met up with a character named Vicecanon
Servyna who was hiding with others inside a cave. She wasn't
part of my quest but the game often allows conversations with
secondary characters so I tried to speak with her. She said
she recognised me but is unwilling to talk in case I'm a skin-stealer.
(A character disguised as another by wearing their skin). She
then started pacing up and down the cave.

Later,
after chatting with others and performing a quest, when I
tried to speak with Vicecanon Servyna again she
apologised. The apology wouldn't have made any sense if I
hadn't already spoken to her.

I love the way this game
keeps track of what has and what hasn't been said even when
the conversation has nothing to do with the main plot or
quests that are taking place.

Vicecanon Servyna.

Changing
Voices.

While
chatting to a fellow member of the Mages guild, the best
guild of them all, I noticed that the tone of her voice
changed while she was speaking. Valaste is someone with
a happy personality who puts a positive spin on everything
she says but it was as though her mood would change from one
paragraph to the next.

I've a suspicious feeling
the voice actress wasn't available when the game creators
realised she needed more dialog so someone else has stepped
in and imitated her voice. I've no way to confirm this but if
you ever have a conversation with Valaste you'll likely
notice it too.